1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal and method that allocates predetermined functions to a continuous clicking operation of a directional key on the mobile terminal.
2. Description of the Background Art
Mobile communication service providers provide users with communication functions such as a wireless Internet access service, a VoD (Video on Demand) service, text and multimedia message transmission capabilities, online wireless games, etc. Further, mobile communication terminal manufacturers provide functions not related to communication functions such as a camera function, the ability to write memos or scheduling information, to set an alarm, etc.
As the functions of a mobile communication terminal are diversified, the menus used to access these functions become more complicated, which results in the user having to operate a keypad multiple times to access one function. For instance, a text messaging function includes a variety of menus such as Message Communication Recording menu, Message Multi-queue menu, and Environment Setup and Multimail menu. Thus, to view a received text message, the user has to select several menu options (sub menus) in a top-down order.
For example, FIG. 1 illustrates different menus related to a text messaging capability provided on a mobile terminal. As shown, the user is first provided with a top level message management menu 10. When the user selects the menu 10, a plurality of sub menus 20 are displayed. In this example, the sub menus 20 include a Message communication recording menu 21, a Message multi-queue menu 22, an Environment setup menu 23, and a Multimail menu 24. In addition, when the user selects the Multimail menu 24, another sub menu 30 is displayed providing the user with a plurality of different options. In this example, the sub menu 30 includes the following options: Received message 31, Sent message 32, Text storage box 33, and Message mail 34.
Thus, if a user wants to view a received message, the user selects the Message management menu 10, the Multimail sub menu 10, and the Received message sub menu 31, and then finally selects and views the received message. After viewing the received message in the above manner, if the user wants to send a reply, the user must select a Reply menu among Reply, Resend, Delete and Store number menus, which are sub menus of the Received message menu 31.
Also, the number and use of keys that can be stored in a keypad of the terminal is limited, because the terminal is compact. Therefore, related art terminals allow a specific function to be allocated to a key. The user can then use the direction key as a shortcut key for selection of a desired function (e.g., to dial a home telephone number by pressing and holding a particular key).
However, the related art method is only useful to select a top level menu. Thus, in the related art method, it still takes a lot of time and is troublesome to access a lower menu from an upper menu. That is, the shortcut directional key allows a user to access the top level menus such as Camera shooting menu, Short message menu, MP3 player menu and so on, but does not allow the user to execute an individual function within each menu. Thus, a lower level menu has to be accessed from an upper level by selecting each sub menu, which takes a lot of time and forces the user to visually check each menu/sub menu one by one.